183 Chapter 178: Through the Fire and Flames (Final)

-Crimson Ocean-

Whispers, one after another, rose like steam in the sky. That cold place. That warm place. That place that has made him suffer for so long is embracing him, accepting this wretched soul in his own death. Those whispers seemed to celebrate this event, and they only continued to rise in volume, rejoicing, now turning into shouts of joy.

He fell into the blood, plunged deep into the crimson liquid. He felt cold, he felt pain. He felt his own death.

"I... am dying...?"

It was normal to think that. If your torso had a hole the size of your own head, it was normal to think that possibility. Still, the pain he felt was stabbing and, at the same time, pleasurable. That pain felt very familiar to him. In his memories, in his past, he realized that he was always someone else's punching bag. He smiled at the thought that he would be a kind of anti-stress toy since everyone always used him to let off steam, either by being physically or mentally assaulted. Or why not both?

The problem here was that way of thinking he has. It won't get him anywhere. It will only continue to sink him deeper into this darkness.

...

As he touched the bottom of the crimson ocean, he heard screams coming from the surface. He immediately knew that these cries of despair were from Konan. Toru had no idea what is going on up there, but he knew that at that moment his life was already over. It was a horrible death and, to some extent, sad to remember. He promised Konan that she would stay by her side forever, but now he was bound hand and foot at the bottom of this bloody liquid with shackles and chains.

"Konan... I... I don't want to disappoint you. I've disappointed too many people already."

But he felt that his death was something that had to happen sooner or later.

It was ironic, per se. Death was always a recurring thing in both of his lives. In his old life, he was the one who killed people to keep his experiment (The Light of Humanity) under control. At least in that life he had an even greater motive for doing so, which was to help humanity with partially infinite energy. But now, in this life, he simply killed because he could. Although there were benefits involved, but only for himself. This time he allowed himself to be more selfish, not because he wanted to, but because he needed to.

In the end Toru was someone who only acted for himself unconsciously. His own mind prepared the scenarios in which he had to get involved in order to...

...

...

...

So as not to suffer as in his past life...

-Battlefield-

The moment Madara smashed Toru's torso and kicked him like garbage and then smashed the inheritance Kyoko left to this boy (the daggers), everyone saw how Toru dropped like a fly in front of this bastard's power. In fact, Sasuke shouted Toru's name when this happened, but he could do nothing to stop it.

Consumed by memories of the past, Sasuke thought that letting Toru die also made the efforts of his older brother, Itachi, have been in vain, so, propelling himself with his right leg, he wielded the katana tightly and the eyes of suffering, the Sharingan, glowed and sharpened within their sockets.

With his body flashing in front of Madara, he raised his katana and threw it, but that guy only sneered at him when the blade only stuck to the side of him. This made Madara mock Sasuke as he talked to Tobirama.

"You have to sacrifice something to protect something" said the Uchiha taking the handle of the sword. "Whether it's a friend, a brother or even a son."

Pinned to the ground, Tobirama shouted, "Don't do it, Madara! He's still a child!"

However, this man just ignored him and plunged the sword into Sasuke's heart. Still taunting the boy, Madara looked at him seriously.

"Even when I gave you so much time to attack me. It's a pity."

Obviously disappointed, he dropped Sasuke and shook his head.

"The fact that you have those eyes is proof that you've lost a lot of things. It also looks like you're looking for something, but that will end just the same. That will be the end of things. You'll be lost in the abyss."

Groaning, blood pouring from his chest, Sasuke tried to get up, but immediately lost his strength and fell on his face. He crawled on the ground and scowled angrily.

'I'm not going to die... I'm not going to die!' he said to himself. He still wanted to become Hokage and recreate the village according to his ideals. He wanted to show everyone what a true Kage should be like. Itachi's sacrifice and suffering was not going to be in vain, much less Toru's death.

'That day...'

That day Sasuke saw the note Toru left Itachi next to those strange pills. He could tell that Toru wanted to save Itachi and realized that what he did up to that point was wrong.

'Toru...you bastard...how dare you die?'

He could feel it, Toru was dying too. They're both going to die, nothing will change that. This will be the end of things, both childhood friends will meet their end on this battlefield. Wrapped in crimson blood, deep in the earth, on top of this statue.

Sasuke could no longer stand up, he slowly closed his eyes and returned to the past as life leaves his body.

***

"TORU!"

Konan spread her wings, still standing next to Hinata and Ino, and propelled himself with all her might into the small hole left after Toru was buried. The force with which she landed was so great that she left a large crater in the ground. Almost instantly, with bare hands, she began digging in the ground in desperation.

When she saw Toru being pierced by Madara, Konan saw the whole world in slow motion. She felt a part of her heart break just from seeing her beloved being killed in front of her eyes.

'Nagato... Yahiko... please... help me.'

She prayed that nothing bad would happen to Toru. Even if she had to ask Nagato and Yahiko for help, she wanted to save this boy. Besides, she could somehow feel it, he's still alive down there, he's still alive, but any moment now his oxygen will run out and his injury is not just anything. Either of these two factors can kill Toru in the next few seconds and she is going to save him this time.

She's going to save him...

'Please... don't do this to me, Toru...'

***

A little bit nearby, Hinata and Ino watched Konan's desperation to get Toru out of that hole. They saw that this woman really loved Toru. However, seeing this they had that annoying feeling that grew in their hearts.

"I already realized that I'm no better than him..."

Ino has really thought about this. Forgiveness is too much for Toru, but just letting him die just like that was also too much.

"At least die after helping us kill that madman."

In retrospect, Toru might be among the few with the power to kill Madara, as he had the eyes that observe death in existence. Now that Madara is a mortal, Toru could cut the lines of death and defeat him, but as it happened with Obito before... it wasn't as easy as it sounded.

Regardless of whether Ino hated and loved Toru, she threw herself into the battlefield alongside Konan.

Hinata was silent as she watched this. She somehow shared the same thought as Ino. She also remembered that place she saw while she was between life and death. There was that child crying alone, it was Toru.

"Hanabi, stay here. No, it's better if you leave the battlefield together with the wounded."

"What! But Toru is-"

"It doesn't matter. It's going to be all right. Go Hanabi, this is something I won't allow you to participate in anymore. Find our father and go with him."

Hinata was determined now. So, after giving that order to Hanabi, she jumped up and quickly arrived at Ino and Konan's place.

"Haa... I'm seriously not understanding anything that's going on anymore. Does that mean they're forgiving Toru?" she frowned crossing her arms. "Well... Should I forgive him too? He did a lot of bad things, but he's trying hard to do something good. I could certainly forgive him, but I'll still be mad at him."

She turned around looking back one last time and went to look for Hiashi.

***

Once the Bijūs were trapped in the Gedō Mazō, Madara proceeded to bring the Jubi to its final phase in a second. With that, a gigantic cloud of steam covered him from head to toe and the tailed beast disappeared. That man walked through the steam that formed as his body began to change. His hair turned snow white and his skin turned grayish. Two horns sprouted on his forehead like a strange plaque. His arms and legs turned black, and he wore a robe that on the outside was the same color as his skin, while inside it was completely black.

"Is this the power of the Six Paths? Now I'm only missing my left eye."

He contemplated the battlefield thinking that now he was only missing one thing. He took a long leap and floated into the sky as he zoomed off with the intention of approaching that place.

'With the traitor dead, my only target now is my left eye. Once I get it, the rest of the plan will flow like water.'

The traitor, Toru, was the only one who could kill Madara without the need for powerful jutsus. Simply by using the lines of death that his eyes show, he could kill Madara, but if this man surpasses the brat in speed, then it would be impossible even if he had the Shigan. Also, Toru's daggers were destroyed, there is nothing left of them.

"What is this?"

He felt a bit of discomfort in his stomach and suddenly spat out two small objects that grew bigger as they fell to the ground.

"Rikudō tools, eh... I guess it doesn't matter anymore."

-Crimson Ocean-

"What are they talking about so much?"

The shouts of joy died down and everyone went back to mumbling. He didn't understand how much these souls were talking about, but they were obviously talking about him.

"Can you all be quiet?" he asked in a monotone voice, but the whispering didn't stop. "You people, what do you want from me?"

A voice all too familiar to Toru answered.

"We want to see you suffer."

He immediately opened his eyes in shock and stood up inside the liquid to look around. As he looked straight ahead, his breath shuddered and those memories that granted him this twisted personality flashed in his mind as he recognized the woman smiling as she looked at him.

He looked down and his silver eyes became opaque.

"Even in this life...you..."

"Your life is already over, my son."

That disgusting female voice, that smug tone she spoke with.

It could be said that Toru has a great weakness. That weakness is his own past. Those events that forged his mind until this moment, someone who has been stuck in the past, even in his old life. Now that Toru regained his emotions, he could feel those emotions so familiar to him.

"You... all this time... you were here... mother..."

"Fufufu... everyone is angry, everyone wishes the worst for you. But not only us, even this World wishes your suffering. You're not going to escape, you're not going anywhere. You will stay with us now. We will keep you company for the rest of eternity."

...

...

"Shut up..."

"Hm...? What are you saying? I can't hear you..."

"Shut up..."

Toru's vacant gaze scanned that woman's feet. Now he was kneeling before her, just like in the past. The words were like needles to him. Every time that woman let out her voice, he felt himself back in that life. This wasn't right. He didn't want to go back to the past. He simply wanted to forget that past, he wanted to erase all that from his being. But the more he tried to destroy that past, the more it came back to torture him even more.

"How pathetic," she said.

Suddenly Toru's chains broke and he stood up with a shadowed look. His eyes were crimson. A look as deep as hell, he grabbed that woman by the neck and squeezed his hands tightly.

"SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT UP!"

Toru screamed from the bottom of his heart. He felt his blood boil, he felt pain in his eyes and he also felt... a strange energy flowing through his body.

The woman just laughed as she was strangled.

"Hahahahahaha... yeah... that's what you are..."

A monster.

***

When Toru regained control of himself, he realized that all the souls were gone. There was no longer any ocean of blood, only a deep abyss of black surrounding him.

Glow. A small flame flared ahead. A female voice, almost emotionless, began to speak to him.

-Battlefield-

While the girls were trying to pull Toru off the ground, Madara had already managed to meet Kuro Zetsu.

"I can't believe your incompetence made me come here in person," he said, and everyone fell silent at his presence. "How long do you plan to be attached to Obito?"

"Heh. Sorry. But at least I managed to steal the other half of the Kyubi."

"I see. Bring him here, then."

Zetsu obeyed and tried to separate himself from Obito's body, but quickly realized he couldn't. Obito's preventing him from leaving. With control of his body, he looked up and frowned.

"Madara. let me ask you a question."

Hearing this, Gaara tried to attack, but Minato stopped him. Even though Naruto needed Kurama's other half to survive, Minato didn't want to risk losing the opportunity just by rushing.

Obito continued:

"What am I to you?"

Madara thought that was a very stupid question, but Obito forced him to answer.

***

"Doton!"

Ino put her hands on the ground and tried to dig as deep as possible, but it simply looked like Toru was swallowed by the earth, as they had already dug ten meters and they could see no trace of this boy other than his blood smeared on the ground.

"Please hold on..." she closed her eyes and tried to feel Toru.

He was still alive, but his chakra was already too weak. Even if they managed to get him off the ground, the wound he received was too big, no one would be able to heal something like that. But Ino wanted to try. If she manages to save Toru, then she will have somehow closed that cycle of hatred that had formed in her heart. For the same reason, Hinata was also digging with her bare hands. She was feeling a bit confused right now. Every time she tried not to think about it, that crying child came back to her mind.

"We're not going to accomplish anything like this..." she said. Her white eyes couldn't see Toru, but she, like Konan, at some point began to feel Toru as a second part of her own self. "We have to use more strength" She stood up from the ground and slammed her fist into her palm. "Omoiho Sōshiken [Heavy Step, Twin Lion Fists]"

With her fists wrapped in blue chakra, like the heads of two lions, she raised her arm and hit the ground hard. A meter-deep crater was formed by this, which surprised Ino. She raised the other arm and struck again, enlarging the crater to two meters. She kept hitting again and again with full force until she managed to extend the crater fifteen more meters. With that, she went back to digging with her hands, for if she continued that way, the chakra wave might actually kill Toru.

BOOM! The ground shook and the three women looked in a specific direction. Where Kakashi and Minato were supposed to be, a large cloud of red vapor exploded. Followed by this, the ground shook strongly and the earth they had managed to get out of the crater started to move because of the shockwaves, covering the crater again.

Ino and Hinata realized that this ruined the rescue, so they jumped up and prevented the landslide from hitting them. The bad thing is that Konan stayed digging even though the earth was about to bury her and Toru.

"What are you doing!"

Konan replied to Hinata.

"He saved my life... I want to save him too..."

That was why she wasn't going to give up. Even if the ground had already covered her legs, she dug again, for she wasn't going to let Toru's effort be in vain.

"I want to live by his side, and for that, he must live too... he promised me..."

Hinata and Ino looked at each other as the earth again covered this woman's body.

"Yeah... he's the one who promises things he never keeps..." said Hinata.

And Ino felt sympathy for this woman. They couldn't help but think that she had been a victim of Toru's lies. Or that's how they saw the situation. After all, Toru did the same thing with them, only this same boy walked away and abandoned them.

Well, with Konan it was quite different, they just didn't know it, they could never see it with their own eyes.

Konan has always been a very loyal person. She never betrays those she always trusted, those who have a special place in her heart. Toru was one of those special people, that's why she would never betray him. She wanted to strive to protect what she loves, for she still had those wounds from the old days, times when she failed to protect one of those special people to her. That's why she was trying too hard not to lose what she loves the most again. She has already lost too much and losing Toru would only be the breaking point in her life.

"He's my hope... as long as he's here, I won't fall into darkness..."

With her hands already hurting from so much digging in the dirt, Konan imagined a future with Toru. Living in Amegakure would be ideal. There they could be together and she could be in her homeland. She thought that at some point they could have children. In fact, she had already thought about what she wanted to name the baby if it became a boy. She wanted to be a kind and understanding mother, but strict when she had to be. She knew that because of her age, she will die before Toru, so she wanted to form her life with him, in order to say goodbye to this world with a beautiful family, a happy family that has not suffered the pain of war.

She... Why does she love him so much?

Drip...

Drip...

"I'm not going to let him die like this, I want to save him too!"

With tears streaming down her face, she spread her paper wings like hands and began to dig desperately.

'You promised me, Toru! I know you're going to be fine! You'll get up and recover from your injuries like nothing happened! That's how you are! That's how the man I fell in love with is!'

-Crimson Ocean-

That voice said something that for the first time Toru understood and could remember after hearing it.

"We've been in this situation many times."

It was a girl's voice, probably. It was a voice that sounded quite kind, warm, so... familiar to him. But after understanding those few words, Toru could not understand any more of what that voice was telling him. Maybe the voice belonged to the flame that glowed in front of him, that somehow always took care of him.

He couldn't help but feel bad, he couldn't help but feel pain when he was in this place.

Seeing everything he has lived through, all his actions in this world, he asked himself again....

"Who am I, what are you, what are we looking for?"

He touched his chest in pain. Tears streamed down his cheeks. He understood these emotions, for these tears did not belong to him, they belonged to Konan.

She is desperate to save him.

"It's true... for a moment I forgot..."

What he was looking for was in front of his eyes all the time. He felt at last that the answer he searched for so long was near. He was close to getting what he wanted, and for that he touched the flame, and closed his eyes. He felt the warmth of that small flame and how that soothing feeling filled his whole body. However, there was also that strange energy flowing in his body. It was mixing with the feeling the flame was giving him.

"Konan..."

He sighed wearily.

"I'm not going to disappoint you. I promised."

-Battlefield-

The events escalated so fast in a few minutes. That explosion of red vapor that the girls saw earlier was Maito Gai using all his power. He has opened the eighth gate and is now sacrificing his life to defeat Madara. However, this man's lifespan is already coming to an end. He has only one attack left, the most powerful, the most deadly, the most impressive. This attack will make it clear that the spring of youth has ended, thus leaving a beautiful crimson sunset.

Gai placed both hands and feet against the ground, taking a strange Olympian pose. He looked up and saw Madara.

"The time has come..."

With all the pain in his body, remembering all the sacrifices in this war, taking his father's words deep in his heart, he shouted.

"Yagai! [Night Guy]!"

Propelling himself with the last strength of his legs, incredible gigantic red flames began to engulf the man's body. A dragon taken from the flames, the sunset of a life, the life of Maito Gai.

...

Meanwhile, excited by the strength of his opponent, Madara smiled and prepared to meet the attack squarely, but when he saw that rising dragon began to distort the space around him, his eyes widened in shock. His reaction was too late, for....

BOOOOOOOOM! Shattering everything around him, that incandescent dragon made an impact. Gai, with a powerful kick, managed to hit Madara in the rib. The blow resounded like a powerful explosion, which caused a shockwave that was felt throughout the battlefield. With this, Madara shot out, crashing into the roots of the severed tree god.

Everything was covered by the smoke from this incredible technique, which left nothing visible. However, to make it more eye-catching, Madara launched a wind wave that cleared all the smoke and allowed the view of the panorama.

Lee, Kakashi, Minato and Gaara opened their eyes without understanding how that guy could survive the attack, as Madara was on the ground, his arm and part of his torso were gone, but he was still alive. While Gai now lay on the ground, his whole body burned.

"Sensei!" cried Lee.

And, as if his will compelled him to get up, sensing that the enemy was still not falling, Gai got up again. With his whole body falling apart, he had a shadowed look. He staggered twice as he stood up, his consciousness starting to become blurry and at some point he stopped feeling pain.

"Gai..." Kakashi clenched his fists and closed his eyes tightly.

Minato and Gaara could only bow their heads in respect for this man.

On this shattered battlefield, he raised his arm. His hand trembled as he slowly raised his arm. His skin was falling off like ashes, his unbeatable will brought him to his feet once again, but his body could no longer with that will.

...

In front of everyone, standing with his guard up, that man, Maito Gai, died. But he did not fall, he never knelt before his rival. He stood proudly and showed the world who he is. He died standing and being who he was until this moment, the twilight of his life.

He was Maito Gai of Konohagakure.

...

"That was amazing. You almost killed me. I give you my congratulations."

Raising his hand to send one of the black spheres to kill Gai, he felt something pop up somewhere nearby.

"What was that?" he wondered, for he felt that foul energy again. As if rising from the depths of hell, as if that energy was searching for him.

***

At some point Konan stopped digging, as she stopped feeling Toru and deduced that he had died. But rather than crying, she just kept looking down, waiting for him to do what he always does.

...

Suddenly, below her, the ground began to shake. Rocks detaching themselves from the ground, they began to float in the air. Rising high above and destroying themselves, turning to dust.

"Toru..."

She spread her wings and moved a little away. The entire ground began to shatter and the remaining shinobi were the witnesses to what was happening. They watched as the entire ground fell away in the form of giant boulders, right from the place where Toru had been buried. The rocks were crushed by an invisible force, which turned them into dust that somehow caught fire and vanished as a small shower of ashes.

Hinata and Ino sighed. At the same time, Konan was only relieved, for she herself had seen Toru being disintegrated by a Jinchūriki, coming out of that attack unharmed. Now she was sure that he would not break his promise.

***

Amidst the rocks that rose up, Toru was staring into the void with a dull gaze. He no longer had wounds on his abdomen and for a second his silver eyes were crimson, but these were quickly replaced by the Rinnegan's eyes. The Rinnegan's pupil began to change as the rocks continued to disintegrate with the shakuton. It spread across the eye in four points, forming an X in the middle of the eyes.

It was then that Toru awoke from the trance he was in.

He saw what he was doing and sighed hot air.

"There's something different in my brain. It's a strange twinge. It doesn't hurt, but it's strange."

At that moment, he was having many sensations touching his mind, like little warnings.

"I see... I'm flying, but I can also see the lines of death. How convenient. So many ideas pop up in my mind. I should use them at some point, yes. But first I have a lot to do."

He closed his eyes and felt the chakra of those girls.

[Konan...]

The telepathic communication was activated.

[You know you worried me a lot] she said.

[I know. I'm sorry. I recommend that you stay away from the battlefield as far as you can. I will communicate this to the rest of the alliance. There is something I have to do. I feel like the answer I've been looking for is up ahead]

He was referring to the place where the explosions and red steam were seen.

Konan understood this and her concern rose.

[You...]

[My whole life had been meaningless until now. Wrong, it was before. It was when I met you. There are many things I want to tell you, but now is not the time. I have to go first.]

[You'll tell me all those things when we get back...]

Konan's tone of voice still sounded worried.

[Of course. You don't have to worry. Trust me.]

[Well... it's okay...]

[They know we're listening to them, don't they?] Hinata said.

[You have no shame, huh, Toru?]

And Ino played along with Hinata.

[Uh... my eyes feel weird. Don't tell me I just said this in front of everyone?]

[You did] said all the shinobi.

Shaking his head, Toru disappeared from the sky and reappeared near the tree god.

[Then, if you heard what I said, you know you have to get away from here. Everyone get as far away from here as you can. As far away as your legs will let you. Rather...]

Run away from me.

...

[What do you mean?] Someone asked.

[I'm going to use a Kinjutsu. If you come within the range of this kinjutsu, you will be burned to ashes. If you cherish your life, you will heed my words. And Konan, you don't have to worry so much anymore. I will keep my promise]

[What promise are they talking about. She said something similar before.] Ino was already tired of this. She felt her mind heavier than usual today.

Konan, without any embarrassment, considering that there are more women who love Toru, said:

[Toru promised me that she would stay by my side forever.]

For some reason Hinata and Ino felt annoyed. But they still hated Toru, so that feeling quickly added to their hatred for him. Now they really ignored him.

[How romantic] Tenten said. She felt that something interesting was going on, but when she said that, Toru cut off the communication.

***

'I feel weird somehow. I can't see what happened to my eyes, but I can more or less deduce what's going on.'

He touched his face in some pain. Then, hovering over the god tree, he narrowed his eyes as he saw Gai and Madara.

"Eighth Gate, I'm guessing. It's impressive."

Without much thought, he descended and appeared in less than a second beside Gai.

"Toru-kun."

Minato recognized him instantly.

"Hi. I'm here to give you a hand" he greeted Naruto's father as if it was a normal thing to do.

"You again. You're like a spoon" Madara said, but was ignored by Toru, who approached Gai.

...

...

"Mokuton..."

Without using hand seals, the branches of the Mokuton grew around Gai and laid him down on the ground gently and then enclosed him in a wooden box. Some crimson flowers grew around, honoring the color of this man's death. With all this, Toru approached the flower-decorated coffin and knelt down. He clasped his hands together and closed his eyes.

"Rest in peace, Maito Gai-sensei."

Both Minato and Kakashi saw this action of Toru's as something strange, but it really is what Gai deserved. He deserved a dignified farewell. Toru understood this as he saw him standing lifeless, looking at the enemy with his guard up and his brow held high.

"You too should have heard my message. But just in case, run away from here. I'm going to perform a Kinjutsu and if you stay, you would die."

"I know..." Minato remembered something bad about Toru's clan at that moment. But he still convinced the others to leave and together they walked away, and lifted Gai's corpse with them.

In the past he trusted Kyoko and, in the present, he had to trust that crazy girl's son. 'Kyoko-san... your son has grown up a lot. I wondered what you would think of him at this time.'

...

...

'You are the real Madara. I see that you heal yourself quite quickly. Then I just have to cause you much more damage than your regeneration" he already had in mind what he would do next.

...

Madara took Toru like a child who is bluffing. Did he survive that injury? Yes, but there was nothing that could surprise him now that he saw the true power of Taijutsu.

"What a stubborn traitor. Perhaps you are the last obstacle I must face in carrying out my plan. I can see your new eyes. That explains why you survived. But that won't be a problem for me."

"It's true, you're right. If I face you as I am, you'll kill me in one blow."

"If you already know that, then why?"

Toru interrupted him.

"As it is I won't be able to defeat you, yes, but I have a jutsu that will help me accomplish my goal. Besides, it's apparent that you like to fight, I could see your devotion to combat when you were so insistent on fighting Hashirama-san."

"Kukuku. Yes, it's something I can't deny. The beast from before taught me that despite having this power I have, the power of a god, I can still bleed. With someone like you, the traitorous blood of the Uchiha, I'll have to get a little serious. Still, seeing how you fell before, I can say that my chances of winning are still astronomically high."

"I see. So, will you let me use my jutsu?"

"Use all you want, you won't win."

"I understand. I thank you. It will take me a few seconds."

He pulled out a scroll he had tucked away with one hand and held it out in front of his face. With his remaining hand, he touched some of the blood on his clothes and said:

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu."

A small cloud of smoke exploded in front of him, while another large cloud of smoke manifested next to him. The first cloud of smoke dissipated at the same time as large wooden thorns came out of the ground, piercing through whatever came out of the scroll.

"Looks like you have no choice this time..." Within the cloud of large smoke, Okamitsuki spoke in a somewhat subdued tone.

"Yes. That's why I need your help. I just need to use that jutsu and everything will be ready."

The cloud of smoke dissipated at last, which left Okamitsuki to see one of the Shiro Zetsus trapped between the branches that pierced his body. She frowned and shook her head. She was now facing an enemy whose power surpassed anything she had ever seen in her entire life. Even the old Okamikaze would burst out laughing at the sight of that monster in the world, for he would immediately accept that everything we know is over before the existence of a being with such power. She knew she had no choice and understood that Konan was not able to convince Toru. Still, the end of all this is vague, anything can happen. She, then, accepted that being the tool that will guide this fight in a different direction.

"You're wasting my time," Madara said.

"I'm sorry. Give me a moment. Only the last step is missing."

He looked at Okamitsuki, as if asking for her approval. She just resigned herself and smiled slightly at him as she nodded her head. To her, Toru was a puppy she had to take care of. She was supposed to watch out for that puppy not to do anything stupid, but ironically, right now, she was helping him do something stupid.

Without making Madara wait any longer, Toru began to connect the seals on his hands and the X on his Rinnegan began to slowly rotate. The chakra around his body began to disturb and, when he finally brought his hands together, as if he was offering a prayer to some god, a kind of steam rose from his back. There, behind him, a spectral being with the face of a demon appeared. It had long white hair, with two medium-sized red horns protruding from its forehead and sharp teeth in its mouth. His skin was purple and his gaze was pointed at Zetsu. In his right hand, the Shinigami took a rosary and waited for the user's decision. Whose soul would be sacrificed at this moment?

"Shiki Fujin!" said Toru squinting his eyes.

Madara looked at this a little curious. Toru had a large wolf beast by his side, which could serve as a Bijū. With a sacrifice and the Shiki Fujin, he immediately came to the conclusion that this boy wanted to become a fake Jinchūriki, as he alone could not defeat him. That was how he understood everything. Even so...

'You have a long way to go. It's a pity that your life will have to end soon. No doubt this traitor has talent, he could have become someone great, but I'm here and that's not going to happen' He smiled satisfied. "Show me that powerful jutsu you were talking about!"

In response to that, Toru just relaxed and the Shinigami reached out his hand. Grabbing Zetsu by the neck. With this, he lifted him up high and extracted his soul, causing Zetsu's body to rot instantly. Once this was done, the Shinigami's eyes glowed and he understood Toru's intentions. With the same hand, he grabbed Okamitsuki and transformed her into a kind of specter that entered Toru's body.

While this was happening, a black colored seal formed on Toru's abdomen, which could be seen thanks to Madara having pierced his abdomen earlier, tearing his clothes.

...

Finished his work, the Shinigami disappeared and Toru closed his eyes. Inside his mind he spoke to Okamitsuki.

[We have to do the same as that day.]

[But that's going to hurt you. We can't be sure that you will be able to resist so much destructive power. If the first and only time we use this jutsu you almost died]

[I'm not going to die. I can resist it better now, I'm sure. So trust me. Let's start]

[Haa... you're a stubborn puppy]

Concentrating inside Toru's body, Okamitsuki closed her eyes and began to draw chakra from the World. Toru did the same outside, relaxing his muscles and activating his sage mode.

"Sennin..."

Waves of air pushed everything around him, which made Madara a little excited to see what kind of power this traitor acquires from being a cheap imitation of a Jinchūriki. On his face was a small confident smile, but this smile disappeared when the ground began to shake and the temperature rose rapidly.

Under Toru's feet, who let out a small cloud of steam in the form of a sigh, the ground began to melt. His hair bristled and took on a dark gray color, as well as taking the shape of two wolf ears. Two black spots in the shape of paws appeared on his face and his fangs grew about four millimeters. Its legs and arms were completely covered with Shakuton and the ground began to shake even harder.

"Fusion Mōdo [Sage: Fusion Mode]."

This is the final act.

***

Already far enough away from the battlefield, Hinata saw with her Byakugan everything that was happening. She was surprised to see Toru use the same Kinjutsu that the Sandaime used against Orochimaru, only this guy used it to seal Okamitsuki inside himself.

Konan looked at this worriedly. "I'll trust you..." but she still kept her hopes high.

...

Suddenly, however, everything began to shake violently. Mountains began to fall away causing rock avalanches, the dark sky cleared of its clouds and allowed everyone to see more of the stars. Also, in the same direction where everything seemed to have started, a bright light flickered three times.

It was then that everyone understood why Toru told them all to run away from him....

BOOOOOOOOM! A gigantic tornado of fire exploded and expanded, scorching most of the battlefield. That tornado was bright, like a gigantic pillar of light. But that was not all. The shinobi began to bleed and faint for no apparent reason. No, that was not so. Hinata could see it with her eyes. It was something terrible, something she could never imagine. It was as if all the chakra near Toru was ripped out of the air and forced closer to him. She could see it perfectly. It was like a bright cloud concentrating on that spot.

"Always doing that kind of thing..." Ino closed her eyes, sighing. "You never seem to learn from yourself, huh..." and a small smile formed on her face as a small drop of blood fell from her nose.

Toru really hasn't changed as much as she thought. It's all up to him now... just like in the past.

'No matter what I do. No matter how strong I've become. I always seem to somehow always leave all the work to you.''

-Dimension of the Gods-

A loud explosion resounded and the entire dimension shook violently. The gods ran scared from side to side, trying to find an answer to this sudden occurrence. Who would have thought that they would find their answer in the sensation that this peculiarity between dimensions generated.

Amaterasu was one of the few goddesses who remained calm.

"So the theory turned out to be true. An Overlord on earth, hiding in the maw of the world for so long..." She picked up her pipe and took a puff at the smoke. Then he sighed out the smoke with a certain sense of weariness. "Kaguya. You know what to do. If you fail, no matter if you are my creation, you will die right then and there."

That mother remembered how it was that Kaguya was born from a simple piece of bamboo. She was the princess of the moon, she never had to become a goddess, but the moment she ate the fruit of the god tree, she became what she is now.

-Empty and white place-

She squirmed, floating in excitement at the impending battle she was about to witness. She hadn't written any of this down, but imagining the possibilities of this fight made her body distort from so much excitement.

"Let's see who wins. The Overlord or the one who became God."

She smiled. Her story was changed and this at first annoyed her, but now that she was seeing it with her own eyes, she realized that this would come to be a new form of entertainment for her consciousness.

"Hehehe. Let's see how this scales."

-Battlefield-

From one moment to the next, a tornado of fire exploded in his face. Madara obviously didn't take this into account so he was a bit surprised when he saw it.

"This pain. What amazing power, and that nasty energy is rising in you. what are you?"

As he felt the shakuton tornado scorch his skin, Madara side his head curiously. He wanted to know how Toru can accomplish all this. In his eyes, he has become a unique existence. It was strange because it seemed that he was the only one who could feel such unpleasant energy emanating from Toru's body. Moreover, he could see it clearly now. It was like a red aura covering the traitor's body.

...

Meanwhile, having exploded in power, Toru opened his eyes and clenched his teeth tightly. His whole body was burning and it was causing him indescribable pain.

[Leave the seal open so you can leave whenever you want. Now, we have little time. Let's make the most of it] he said.

[Then I will continue to extract the chakra].

[Thank you, Okamitsuki]

Now that the Fusion Mode was completed, Toru took his combat stance. Crossing his arms in X, with one leg in front of the other, he went on the attack.

...

Madara saw Toru's attempt to overcome that power and smiled wryly. He prepared to take the blow and then strike back with double the force.

"You will die today, traitor!" shouted the Uchiha, but then he swallowed his words when he saw Toru disappear after launching himself into the attack.

In a tiny thousandth of a millisecond, Toru already found himself in front of Madara, charging a punch with the power of nuclear fusion. This man did not know how to react as this guy's speed was so monstrous in a tiny fraction of a millisecond. As fast as he could, Madara covered himself with his arms and received Toru's punch.

10...

The countdown began. In Toru's mind, the time this jutsu will last appeared. It was ten seconds of pure power. That's why he shouldn't waste time because within that time span, he will be able to move before his nervous system starts to deteriorate. After that, he would no longer be able to move his body. With this in mind, right after hitting Madara, seeing that Madara himself had his arms shattered with that first punch, Toru punched the air with his feet and moved at the speed of light, right behind Madara to prevent him from flying away from the impact.

The bad thing was that Toru moved so fast, that the friction caused by braking behind Madara at the speed of light caused part of the battlefield to shatter and made the entire continent shake violently. No, this was worse than it looked. As exaggerated as it sounds, this entire dimension was being distorted by the speed at which Toru was moving.

[My body is resisting...]

[Even I don't believe it. But it's only a matter of time before the damage from the jutsu takes its toll on you. We have to kill that monster fast before we run out of time and the damage you take is irreparable]

[I know. Here goes the second hit]

Boom! Causing an explosion-like sound, Toru threw another punch against Madara's back in another small fraction of a millisecond. Up to this point only half a second has passed, as Toru can move so fast that the distorted space simulates a slowdown in time. Right now everything is going in slow motion for both Madara and Toru.

With this other punch, Madara went flying in the opposite direction. Toru again jumped into the air and prevented this. He lifted his leg and performed a hammer kick that propelled the Uchiha against the ground. That did that, the combination of the strength and speed, plus the matter that made up Madara's Rikudō body, caused him to bounce off the ground. Toru took advantage of that bounce to perform his next attack.

"Madara... your story should have ended a long time ago" he said and then....

Boom! An upward kick much like Lee's Konoha Senpu forced Madara to rise higher.

'Damn. I can't move. It's happening again. That's what I get for underestimating my enemy.'

No one could blame him. After beating Toru with one punch, he thought it would be the same this time, but he was wrong. Now he's taking another beating with no chance to defend himself. Already from the blows he had received, he saw that he had two horrible wounds on his abdomen and back. You could literally see the spine protruding from the burned wound on Madara's back. The damage was no worse than what Gai caused him, but this same damage is constant. Every time his body makes contact with Toru's flames, the wounds burn and prevent him from regenerating faster.

"He's combining Senjutsu and Taijutsu."

Before being brutally punched in the face by Toru's fist, Madara saw that this brat is putting together the two great weaknesses that the Six Paths' body has. Senjutsu and Taijutsu, two deadly weaknesses for him. Despite having the power of a god, that didn't make him immortal.

"It doesn't matter" he had mangled arms and horrible wounds on his body, but he still kept calm and used his only Rinnegan. "Limbo!"

9...

A Limbo clone appeared at Madara's side and propelled itself to stop Toru from attacking again. This was seen by Toru's Rinne-Shigan [The obvious combination between Rinnegan and Shigan], prompting him to act against this counterattack. Before reaching the main Madara, Toru raised his fist and tried to hit the Limbo Madara, but it used one of the black spheres and transformed it into a shield. With another of the black spheres, he brought back the staff and prepared to parry the attack, but he never expected this.

Toru struck the shield and broke it into pieces. His Rinne-Shigan sharpened on his face and he immediately appeared behind Madara from Limbo. With that and, with a horrible wound on his chest, the clone went.

"You don't interest me," Toru said.

Up to that point, the original Madara had managed to stabilize himself in less than a second, but his body was still injured.

"You always bring me trouble-"

Madara couldn't finish speaking, as Toru appeared in front of him again with a fierce gaze. This boy's expression showed the pain he was feeling at that moment, as he was literally being calcined by his own jutsu and he couldn't stop it. Toru didn't know it, but this seemed to be the nature of this senjutsu. It started out as a senjutsu combined with the shakuton and stayed that way until now.

"They'll be the last problems you'll ever have."

"Well said, brat" Okamitsuki played along.

After this, Toru punched Madara again, this time in the face, smashing the left half of his head. This left Madara scared for a few moments as Toru again launched another attack and he had no way to defend himself. His arms were injured and his movements were limited. Plus a new Limbo clone was trying to stop him, but this guy was twice as fast. There was no comparison.

***

8...

On the other side, Konan felt too worried seeing what had formed in front of her eyes. The ground was constantly shaking, the sky seemed to want to split and in the middle of it all, a blinding light was blocking everyone's view of what was going on with Toru and Madara.

7...

Until this moment, only 3 seconds passed since the fight started, but those seconds, for Toru and Madara, seemed eternal.

-Dimension of the Gods-

"It's all getting fucking worse!"

Jashin shouted to the four winds as he launched himself into a fight against the other gods.

Hoderi, who was not yet an aggressive god, hit him over the head with a fishing rod and then tied him up with the rod's rope. The latter saw Jashin lying on the ground trying to wriggle free and shook his head in disappointment.

"We're living through a crisis because of an Overlord and you're attacking your own. Is there no brains in your head, Jashin?"

Amaterasu admired Hoderi's tenacity and nodded her head. Then, sitting on her large bed, she raised her arm and whipped her fan hard against the sheets. This caused everyone to be surrounded by a great sea of black flames that stabilized the gods' worry and despair.

"Calm is what we need now. Kaguya will take care of this. She should be about to break through the 'connection' by now."

***

"Kaguya-chan, this is getting too dangerous. Everything is shaking and it seems that at any moment reality will break. Will the world as such be destroyed by the Overlord?" Miyo was serious about the situation, as they were both about to enter the connection.

The guardians, like nekomatas wearing samurai robes, stepped aside and showed the large circular portal in the wall in the shape of a torii gate that extended like a wormhole along the dimensions. This was called by the gods as the "connection".

"Nothing will happen. I am more powerful than they are. When we reach the human dimension, you will create a barrier with your tails and lock all the shinobi with me inside. I will take care of exterminating them all. Then we can return and continue to live our lives in peace."

"I understand your plan and it saddens me that Amaterasu-sama forced you to do this."

"I regret my past mistakes. Now I have to fix that."

-Battlefield-

"Oraaaaaaaaaaaah!"

Toru launched a kick at Madara, breaking his right leg and sending him crashing to the ground. This caused a large shockwave that pushed all the shinobi even further back from where they were.

6...

But there was still time left. Madara had already lost mobility in his body and would soon lose consciousness.

[We have to go faster!] He gritted his teeth hard. Much of his body had been burned. His skin began to turn black with cracks showing in the incandescent color of the fire.

[You don't look good, brat. This is hurting you too much, it's worse than the last time]

[That's why we must increase the speed. We have no time to waste.]

...

...

Madara tried to get up, but Toru kneed him in the face and then grabbed him by the hair only to punch him in the stomach, and run him through like he did before.

Madara spat out his own blood at this, but Toru wasn't going to stop. He raised his fist and launched another powerful attack. This resumed the previous situation. Toru would hit Madara, Madara would shoot out from the force of impact and Toru would hit him again. This led them to quickly soar into the sky. Due to the speed, Toru was leaving a bright trail of light that kept burning because everyone was going in slow motion for him. The trail had taken the form of hundreds of lines streaking across the sky, which connected and separated, giving the illusion of straight, glowing geometric figures displayed on top of each other.

"You bastard!"

Madara could resist no longer. He was beginning to lose consciousness. He had horrible wounds all over his body, most of his blood had evaporated from the heat generated by Toru's body. With this, he could only scream helplessly to defend himself.

"You're the bastard!" Toru returned the insult and threw a hammer blow with both hands downward.

However, Toru did not allow him to hit the ground, not for now. Therefore, he again appeared behind him and with another punch sent him even higher.

5...

Already being high enough up. Toru grabbed Madara and together they descended at full speed. This for a moment could be seen by the others as Toru slowed down for a moment in the sky, then imbued Madara with shakuton and descended as if they were both a meteorite.

BOOOOM! Another shockwave forced everyone back as these two monsters slammed into the ground. This left a huge glowing crater of molten rock that almost reached the shinobi. Inside this crater, Madara could no longer get up and Toru showed no mercy upon seeing this. So he grabbed the Uchiha by the hair and, without letting go, began to punch him repeatedly as if he were a punching bag.

4...

Throwing so many punches before time ran out, letting out all the chakra his body is gathering, Toru stopped abruptly. His eyes widened in shock as he no longer felt pain in his right arm and saw it fall without responding to his brain's commands. This gave him to understand that the nerves in that arm had been completely burned, rendering them unusable.

[I still have my left arm!]

For him this was not enough. A dark path formed in his mind, whose end, a bright light, was near. The more this fight progressed, the more Toru took one step closer to the answer to the question he had asked himself. That's why he didn't want to stop even if he was left without the limbs of his body. Immediately kicking Madara to lift him off the ground, he threw another upward punch and, in a small fraction of a second, appeared on top of Madara and slammed him to the ground again.

3...

But when he wanted to hit him again with his left arm, it stopped moving. That arm stopped picking up the signals from his brain. This showed that the nerves in this part of his body had also died. Still, he had his legs left. The light was getting bigger and bigger, the answer was getting closer and closer. That's why he had to give his all in the next attack.

[Still not enough!]

2...

In a last attack, he kicked Madara upwards and jumped, rising up next to the enemy.

1...

Being as high up as possible, Toru threw another kick, but just before he managed to hit it, the flames in his body went out and he finally stopped feeling his legs as well.

"No! Damn it!"

0...

Time ran out. Fusion Mode consumed Toru's entire nervous system. Which for a moment left him suspended in midair, only to fall down next to Madara.

[No! Noooooo!]

[Damn...] Even Okamitsuki saw this as a failure.

...

When they fell to the ground, it could clearly be made out that Madara was now just a burnt and deformed piece of flesh, with bones sticking out of it. All of Toru's power was what left him in that state, but it wasn't enough to disintegrate him or wipe him off the face of the earth.

"Move... Move!" Toru, lying face down on the ground, screamed, but his body was no longer responding.

Okamitsuki was silent at this. Although Toru did not die from this jutsu, his condition was critical. The surface of his body had turned into a large layer of charcoal and the inside of his body had third-degree burns. Sure, Toru didn't feel pain because his nervous system was burned, but that didn't leave aside that his life was hanging by a thread.

[I can't move...] He touched his forehead to the ground. [I need to move... I need that answer!]

Toru felt that he was so close to finding out, but it all ended in failure. The reason for his despair was that. The meaning of his life was still uncertain and that was something that was hurting him psychologically. That desperation to find his reason for living. He still needed that. That's why he couldn't give up, he wasn't going to allow himself that until he reached the end of that road.

"I need to move..."

[Toru... that's enough... this is all we could do... let's wait for the others to help us. That monster sure won't be able to regenerate...?!]

Okamitsuki's mistake was thinking that Madara wouldn't be able to regenerate from all the damage he received. But it was almost illogical. If the cells were burned, he shouldn't be able to regenerate. That's why, when she saw through Toru's eyes, she was silent, terrified of how monstrous that human could be. From that pile of burnt flesh, steam began to rise and that bastard began to regenerate his body. Sure, his regeneration was much slower than before, but it was still inhuman that he can regenerate under those conditions.

[Damn... damn... damn... damn!] shouted Toru inside his mind, Okamitsuki being the only one to hear him. [Get up... get up... get up... GET UP!]

Toru didn't know what to do anymore. This was the end. This is the end...

[Damn... I... failed...]

He closed his eyes, resigned himself and accepted all this.

[I... I'm sorry... I'm sorry, Konan... Konan...?]

But that woman appeared in his mind. He could feel her in his heart. She had confidence in him even though she was afraid, she loved him even though she felt afraid of losing him. With this, that path in his mind lit up even brighter and the end of it was nearer. The answer was near. At that she also had an idea. He still had the Rinne-Shigan. With that, despite his injured body, he floated up and soared high into the sky.

"Okamitsuki. I thank you for helping me. It will be annoying for you, but help me again."

Okamitsuki smiled and accepted that this puppy was hopeless. Being inside Toru, she could feel all the suffering this boy has gone through and that was no small thing. She understood what he wanted to do, so she decided to help him to the end.

Controlling his own body with the Rinne-Shigan's gravity control, Toru raised his arms and started to imbue his last reserves of chakra into the sky. Okamitsuki helped him with senjutsu and a gigantic star began to form.

...

...

Meanwhile, below them, Madara was already able to regenerate his head and part of his torso.

"Hm..."

He felt the light shining above him annoyingly so he looked up and smiled. Seeing Toru's imminent and desperate attack, he concentrated all his chakra on regeneration and quickly recovered by 60%.

"What an annoying traitor you've become. Just like the person whose face you inherited" Still regenerating, he thought he would give this traitor a dignified farewell. "I will stop your attack and prove who is the true Sage here" with one of the black spheres he formed his staff and whipped it against the ground.

[This guy... I've never seen such a hideous monster in my life].

Okamitsuki really felt fear at the sight of Madara. He was a beast beyond her comprehension. Even Toru wasn't as strange as that man.

[Before he fully regenerates, we'll kill him with this] Toru replied.

He sharpened his gaze and breathed in some blood in the form of steam and then proceeded with his jutsu.

"Saigo no..."

Madara also prepared himself even though his regeneration was only at 65%. He held his staff tightly and scowled at the same time, smiling defiantly at Toru. This humiliation should not go unnoticed, he certainly felt a bit of resentment at being reduced to a deformed, disgusting mass. Therefore, he had the perfect ending planned for the last descendant of the traitorous blood of the Uchiha, those who called themselves "Asahi".

"...Yoake!"

With the power of gravity force, Toru pushed the plasma sphere against Madara, who began to laugh euphorically watching the light show. He reached out with the staff and touched the sphere trying to stop it. But he soon realized that he again became overconfident.

"It can't be... No!"

Seeing this reaction from Madara, Toru increased the force with which he was pushing the sphere and his eyes began to bleed. This was an opportunity he did not want to miss, for only then would he be able to defeat Madara. The light from the sphere illuminated the entire battlefield and, as he struggled with the sphere, Madara's hands began to turn to dust.

He screamed in pain as he was disintegrated by the sphere, until he finally turned to dust, nothing more or less than that. After all this, Toru's jutsu disappeared completely as a cloud of glowing vapor due to the fact that he no longer had any chakra to give.

...

A deep silence pervaded the scene.

...

[Did we make it?] asked Okamitsuki.

To which Toru remained silent for a second. Even though there were drops of blood on his cheeks that were the ones that fell from his eyes after forcing the Deva Path, out of nowhere blood started coming out of his mouth and nose. His vision started to become blurry and at the end, understanding perfectly what was happening, he answered her:

"No... we failed..."

It was then that Madara's voice echoed behind Toru.

"The problem with someone who can see the Limbo clones..." he whispered in his ear. "Is that they have a hard time telling which one is the real one and which one is the fake."

A low blow, a cheat to the end. Madara simply played dirty.

Therefore, listening to the Uchiha, Toru lowered his gaze and sighed. The real Madara's hand was reaching across his back, protruding through his chest. The bastard was holding Toru's heart, which was still beating in his palm. Blood began to trickle down his chest and back.

[TORU!]

There was nothing to be done now. Toru couldn't move, he had no chakra left. He spent it all in Fusion Mode, so he won't be able to use Deva Path. Okamitsuki witnessed this and broke free from the seal appearing in front of them both enveloped in a cloud of smoke, with Raiton rays flashing around her body.

She had intended to attack Madara, but Toru....

"Come back, Okamitsuki..."

But he nullified the summoning.

"Toru, no-!"

Puff... she disappeared. Toru understood that if Okamitsuki stayed, Madara would kill her too. So he cancelled the summoning and stayed here.

"With this, the last of the traitorous blood is extinguished."

Madara pulled his hand from Toru's back and crushed the heart in it. Before he fell to the ground, Madara himself took it upon himself to do something very cruel to everyone present. So he kicked Toru in the direction where all the shinobi were.

***

Konan felt a deep pain in her chest and for some reason saw Nagato and Yahiko in front of her. For a moment she lost her breath and, as if she could see through Toru's eyes, she witnessed the tragic scene.

Almost a second later...

Boom! Toru rushed past her, shot up from being kicked by Madara. She froze after hearing Toru crash to the ground behind her back. For a moment her breathing stopped and the memories next to this boy began to flash before her eyes. And, at the same time, Madara, mocking everyone, walked past Konan, heading to where Toru.

Ino and Hinata had a similar reaction to Konan. They both sensed that something bad happened and after that they saw Toru crash to the ground behind them.

"This is what happens when I'm challenged. This is how the depressing story of this traitorous blood ends" he smiled, for he has finally finished with the Uchiha's tumor. "And to be sure you won't come back..."

He approached Toru's lifeless body lying on the ground and looked at him relaxed. Then, he lifted one of the black spheres and brought it close to Toru.

"No... no..."

Konan was still in disbelief. Toru was behind her, but she couldn't even turn her gaze to look at him. She felt that if she looked, her whole world would crumble into pieces.

That should be so, but...

[Konan...]

It was Toru's voice. He was using his telepathy to speak to her.

[I'm sorry...]

[Toru...?]

[Konan... I... think... I finally understand...]

The path that had been illuminated has finally touched the end. The answer was clear.

[Toru... stop... say no more...]

[Konan...thank you for everything...thank you for standing by me for so long. You accepted me and didn't abandon me...]

[Please...]

[Thank you, Konan. I really appreciate it. I finally found the answer I've been searching for]

[...]

Konan knew this was going to happen, she already knew it, but she wanted to believe that everything will be alright... Only, in the end, everything always happens this way.

[Hinata, Ino, Hanabi... even though they will never forgive me, I want to offer my final apologies. I've been... very strange always, haven't I].

He began to talk about the past with them. He reminded them of some special moments for him. The first mission, the chunin exams. Ino's first kiss. All that happened before everyone's eyes, which made them all feel something very heavy in the bottom of their hearts.

-Amegakure-

Ajisai, after refusing to participate in the war with her team, was helping the people and refugees in this village. Many already got to know her thanks to Toru, so she is deeply grateful to that boy.

"Hello, young lady" An elderly store owner greeted her. "It's already very late, go get some rest. You have done a lot for all of us. We thank you."

"Uh. Yes! I'll take your word for it. Good night."

Obviously it was already very late at night, she had to go home sooner or later. So she used her kunoichi skills to get there faster and opened the door to her small apartment with a small smile. She hummed a song while she was in the shower. She put on her pajamas and then, out of nowhere, the floor started to shake.

"Uh... war..."

She was startled by this, but understood that a full-scale war was being waged very nearby against a single extremely powerful enemy. So it wasn't worth thinking too much about it since the Shinobi Alliance should have everything under control. The bad thing was that, being inside the apartment, she couldn't see what the entire sky was lit up with flashing lights over and over again.

"Hm...?" she saw something on the desk in her room.

It was a letter - the sender? Well it wasn't on the envelope so, suspicious, she slowly opened the envelope, but it didn't explode or anything. Inside the envelope was a letter, yes. So she opened it and smiled as she saw Toru's signature on the letter.

-Okami Clan Village-

All the wolves were still playing with Toru's clone, who was meditating and using the Sennin Mōdo to get more chakra, but they stopped when they felt everything shaking violently. They stood waiting to see what would happen and suddenly Okamitsuki appeared enveloped in a cloud of smoke.

"DAMN!" she shouted.

Okaminaru looked at her worriedly and approached to ask what had happened, but her mother began to destroy the trees with her fangs and claws. For a moment, Okaminaru thought she saw tears in her mother's fur, but paid no attention to that.

Approaching the clone in the center of the village, she spoke to him.

"Toru...you're still here...say something!"

The clone, eyes closed, smiled slightly. He opened his eyes and showed his Rinne-Shigan.

"It's been a long three years" he looked up at the starry sky and then looked at all the wolves one last time. "Thank you all for never leaving me. I know how to repay you for all you've done for me."

Puff... he disappeared. This made Okamitsuki lower her gaze by clenching her fangs tightly. Then, she looked up at the moon and began to howl. All the other wolves understood what Okamitsuki was doing except for Okaminaru. All the wolves accompanied Okamitsuki's howl.

This was a tradition of the wolves. When someone of the clan died, they were sent off in this manner.

-Battlefield-

The shinobi looked on expectantly. They kept silent, for there was nothing they could do. Madara took that black sphere and brought it close to Toru's body. The black sphere expanded and swallowed Toru, which made the Uchiha feel satisfied. There was nothing standing in his way anymore.

"The traitor is dead" he whispered.

However, beneath him, the earth broke and from there Toru emerged. Who had taken advantage of the shock from before to replace his body with a wooden clone. With the power of his Rinne-Shigan, he forced himself to move, grabbing Madara's arms.

"Wow. You seriously never cease to amaze me."

Toru didn't respond. Rather, his body began to float next to Madara's and the senjutsu's spots showed on his face.

[Konan...]

His voice, though it was in her mind, sounded weak, as if at any moment Toru would lose his life. He called out to her, the one closest to his heart. And even if it was selfish, he called Ino and Hinata as well. He seemed to have died before, but it was an act. Certainly he still had the horrible wound in his chest, he no longer had his heart, but he could still keep moving the blood through his veins with the Rinne-Shigan.

The time has come to say goodbye.

The time has come to fulfill his role in this world.

He who has succeeded in discovering his own identity.

He has reached the end of the road...

...

Everyone looked at them with concern, but Toru displayed his excellent endurance.

"As long as I live..."

The scene of himself, in his past life, walking among the corridors of that mansion was projected in his mind. That fourteen-year-old boy at that time walked with faint smile on his mouth. Even though he had dried tears on his face, he kept smiling to keep himself alive somehow. He was walking relaxed, he was walking... straight towards his death....

And Toru was going to do the same as that boy. Even the circumstances of the event were similar.

'As long as I live, no one else will ever cry again...'

He said to himself, but he knew that wasn't true. He remembered another of the phrases he told himself in his past life.

'As long as I live... there will only be misfortunes.'

The event that forever marked Toru ironically made him discover his own identity. He was not yet a hero with a shining aura, he was not a dark and ruthless villain. The real Toru was just a frightened child, hidden deep in his heart, crying silently, where no one else can reach him. That's why, already high in the sky next to Madara, he smiled. He remembered himself and realized that, no matter how hard he tried to forget the past, it always came back to make him suffer. In the end, he was returning to being that same foolish child, the one who sacrifices himself for a love he never really felt.

"Our story ends here, Madara. We've lived long enough, we need to rest."

"What are you talking about?! Let go of me!"

"No. I won't. We both know that our lives have been over for a long time now and it's useless to keep stretching that fact. Admit it, we're old geezers who stretched out our lives too long."

"I don't know what you're talking about. I'll kill you right now. Limbo!"

Again Madara's clone appeared, however....

"Chidori!"

Out of nowhere, Sasuke propelled himself with the Susanoo and pierced the Limbo clone. His left eye now displayed the Rinne-Sharingan. His hand flickered with lightning and echoed with the screech of a thousand birds. He watched Toru ascend and closed his eyes.

Both of them at that moment said to myself.

"Farewell... old friend..." x2

Sasuke fell to the ground and Toru ascended further as his body began to flicker with the light of the shakuton. Again and again, intent on overloading his own body, his chakra system began to spiral out of control from the speed at which the jutsu activates and deactivates.

"Damn it, let go of me, you traitorous bastard!"

Madara struggled and even though Toru's arms seemed to want to break, he didn't give in.

"No. I told you our lives end here" he closed his eyes and sighed. 'Haa... I finally found out who I am...'

It was quite ironic that Toru had managed to find his own identity on his deathbed, but that was enough for him. He was satisfied with this.

"Aghhhhhhhhh!"

Screaming as he ripped his hand off with his mouth, Madara stripped off that part of his body and threw it to the ground. In a failed attempt to free himself, he headbutted Toru, but the latter forgot that the brat couldn't feel pain. Moreover, this increased the strength of Toru's grip, making it even more difficult for him to escape from Madara.

By the end of it all they had risen high enough in the sky. Now they could see the curvature of the planet. It was a beautiful blue planet, similar to the one in their past life.

[This is goodbye, Konan. I'm sorry I couldn't keep my promise. Still, I want you to live, I want you to seek your happiness. If you're happy, then I will be happy too]

She did not answer him. She simply remained silent as Toru spoke.

[Again... Thank you for everything, Konan. Thank you for loving me. Thank you...]

Toru's chakra system overloaded.

[Thank you and... goodbye...]

These last words also echoed in the minds of many people in this world. Many people that Toru considered important in this new life. However, this life is over. He decided that he had lived too long. He wasted this life, yes, but at least, in his death, he would do something for those people.

His love was always false, always was. He who does not know the meaning of love is destined to love others falsely in order to seek a happiness he can never have. Toru was this way. He was like this, he always was. His heart and soul were so broken that he thought this way of thinking was okay.

He, after all...

"Shakuton..."

He forced himself to love, so he could be happy. A happiness he could never attain.

"Overdrive!"

-Amegakure-

(I don't know how to put this into words. I'm not good at choosing the right words to describe people without offending them. But I wanted to congratulate you, you are now a Jounin! You are worthy of being a leader. You've put in a lot of effort and your efforts have paid off. The same goes for your teammates, Suirein and Fuyo. Give them my regards.

Anyway, I wanted to ask you a big favor. I wanted to ask you a big favor. On behalf of Konan and me, we want you to be someone even greater for this village).

Ajisai read the letter and walked outside. She looked at the sky and realized that everything was clear, which at last showed the stars to this rainy and sad village. She read on.

(People need someone to trust, they need someone to give them hope. I am not that person, I am not trustworthy and, of course, I am not a great leader like you are. I recognize that flaw in me. We want you to lead everyone in this village, we want them to need you, just as we need you now.

You are a good person, you never had bad intentions with anyone. You do what is right for your companions and for those you consider important. That is a beautiful virtue you have. That is why I wrote this letter. To you, from me, I want you to be the next leader of this village. I want you to be the hope that this place is missing.

You are smart and I know you will try to refuse to take the position, but the decision has already been made. It will be difficult from now on, but I know that with you, nothing is impossible.

My last words.

Asahi Toru)

When Ajisai finished reading the letter, a couple of tears fell down her cheeks. She felt a great pressure in her chest that confirmed that something was not right. And, almost at the same moment, a bright light exploded in the sky.

-Battlefield-

Konan finally turned around and looked up at the sky. Up there, from one moment to the next, a gigantic sphere exploded. The sphere was a little smaller than the planet, but it had enough energy to give light to that whole face of the planet.

This cold, dark and depressing night, turned into a beautiful and bright day thanks to the sun that was born on the horizon.

Konan's gaze then faded. Her eyes became opaque and she stared at the star in silence. She sighed tiredly and reached out her hand trying to reach Toru, but he was so high, so far away....

The moments she lived next to that boy flashed through her mind and silently she lowered her gaze as she remembered.

"I was too late..."

Naruto stepped out of the kamui dimension only to witness this act of Toru. He closed his eyes and silently lamented. The same thing happened to Ino, who also looked up at the sky along with Hinata. For some reason they both remembered the day they met Toru and the day they first teamed up.

"You're a fool, Toru..." Ino's breath trembled.

***

"Ahhhhhhh!"

Madara let out an agonized scream as his body began to turn to ash. At the same time, Toru had already lost the ability to speak, his entire body burned and ended up becoming a large charcoal statue. Even in the midst of this chakra explosion, he tried not to lose consciousness until he saw those girls one last time.

'I know who I am... I finally know...'

The chakra ran out and the sun exploded in the sky, which pushed Toru back to earth. As he fell, he confirmed what he had finally discovered.

'I am one who sacrifices himself for what he loves. No matter what I must suffer, no matter how much I am hurt, no matter how many times my heart is broken. Nothing matters, not even if my mind fails to withstand so much suffering. If others are happy, I will be happy too. That is my happiness, that is my role in this and any other life' He closed his eyes and finally fell to the ground. But he felt nothing, for his body was nothing anymore. 'My happiness will always be tied to the happiness of others. What happens to me doesn't matter. I... I'm used to this. It's okay this way, this is how I've always lived and now I understand. It was good to have my emotions back...'

When Toru fell, it caused a big shockwave that pushed everyone back. The first to go to see if what fell was Toru was Ino, who prepared to heal him as fast as possible. But when she saw what was in the crater that had formed, her breathing stopped for a second.

"Toru..."

She trembled and walked over. She knelt down in front of Toru and saw the boy's condition.

Toru's entire body had been almost completely charred, showing cracks that glowed faintly like fire except for a small part of his face, his left eye. He moved the eye a little and Ino realized that he is still alive, so, placing her hands on Toru, they glowed in the green color of medical ninjutsu. Despite this, her hands were shaking badly. As she looked at the dying Toru, she remembered all the good things she experienced together with this boy. Seeing him like this, all the bad vanished into thin air. She couldn't forgive him, but she still loved him too much.

"You're going to be all right. You will be. I'm going to fix you..." her voice trembled. "You'll see you'll be better tomorrow, really" she tried to smile, but tears began to fall down her face. "Sakura! Help me! Tsunade-sama! Please! Somebody help me!" she cried, and though everyone saw them, no one came closer, for there was nothing to heal in Toru's body.

Hearing Ino's desperate cries, Hinata walked over and saw what everyone could see. She thought she would be happy to see Toru dead, but....

"I wish I had eyes like yours."

"You've been following me for a long time, why?"

"I'm Asahi Toru. Can you tell me your name?"

"I'll take you home."

"Let's get something to eat. The food we bought earlier must be cold by now."

Those and hundreds of other dialogues began to appear in her mind. It's true that she hates Toru and, although her love is not as much as her hate, in the end she... couldn't see this....

Her breathing became heavy. Remembering the happy times with Toru, she felt dizzy. Her mind went into chaos the moment she saw this boy and she began to have an anxiety attack. She tried to breathe, but she couldn't for that very reason so she finally fell to the ground, fainting.

...

...

Along with the others, Konan didn't think anything, didn't say anything, just saw Toru dying in front of her eyes.

"Toru... Stay awake. I will do something. I'll do something..."

No. Ino couldn't do anything anymore. Toru looked at Konan, then at Ino and finally at Hinata. He looked up at the sky and hIS consciousness began to fade. Already everything began to blur, he stopped hearing the voices of the others and heard a female childish laughter that seemed to be amused by this. He understood that this time he could not be saved. So he simply accepted it.

He could no longer breathe, he could no longer move except for his eye and, at some point, he stopped thinking....

"Toru...? Toru... no..."

The last drop of chakra in Toru's limp body was extinguished.

"Toru!"

Ino tried to give him some of her chakra, but Toru's body would no longer accept it.

After that, a deep silence remained. In the middle of the crater, turned to charcoal, the last survivor of the Asahi clan, son of Asahi Kyoko and Kitamura Kenji, Asahi Toru, has lost his life sacrificing himself to defeat Madara. On his deathbed he discovered himself and felt he could rest in peace. He managed to say goodbye to all those he considered most important and died through fire and flames.

"What a good end."

The voice of someone no one could hear echoed. That girl with the golden glowing body appeared, but no one could see her. She walked across the battlefield and admired all the destruction she caused.

"It's not how I wrote it, but I'm satisfied. I think it's better than sticking aliens in the middle of the story."

"Haha..."

A familiar laugh echoed, which chilled everyone's blood, but made the girl excited. Emerging from the rubble, Madara resurfaced.

"You bastard... you almost killed me."

"Amazing, a new plot twist!" the girl said.

...

They all looked back to look behind them and there was Madara. Naruto and Sasuke were in shock, as they all saw him die next to Toru, but that wasn't going to happen. That was why Madara ripped off his hand, to resurface from that small portion of his body.

The bright girl nodded excitedly. She knew this was going to happen, for the power of the Six Paths is no small thing, and though she may have called it a plot twist, in the end she pulled the strings of her puppets.

"Well. Now back to the real heroes of the story. Naruto and Sasuke, do your thing!" the girl said, though no one could hear her. "And it's also time to see what the Overlord left me."

Approaching Toru's corpse, the glowing girl touched the red aura still emanating from him and sucked it up with her hand like a vacuum cleaner.

"Uh? How weird..."

There was something hovering above Toru's head. It was like the crimson halo of an angel split in half.

"Such a weak Overlord shouldn't have a crown. Hm... never mind. In the end it's more gifts for me" she took the crown, placing it on her head and smiling contentedly.

At the same time, Madara prepared to kill Naruto and Sasuke, while Konan wrapped Toru's body in paper. Ino tried to stop her, but she didn't listen to her and, spreading her wings, left next to Toru, who lay lifeless inside the paper.

"Treacherous blood will always give trouble. Fortunately I am invincible," said Madara.

But before he can launch himself to kill Naruto and Sasuke, someone appeared above him. Madara by pure reflex looked in that direction, only to find a beautiful woman with white skin and ogre horns. She had a Rinne-Sharingan on her forehead and Byakugan in both eyes.

"Kaguya...?"

He recognized her instantly, but before he could do anything, she touched Madara on the forehead and he turned to dust. With that, Kaguya absorbed all the chakra of the Six Paths, taking back what rightfully belonged to her.

"Consciousness of the world... What are you doing here?" She did get a glimpse of the girl while the shinobi stood startled watching her.

"I came to collect my prizes. The Overlord killed himself. Hahahahaha. That saved us from calling a Champion."

"I see. I'm going to carry out an extermination. You'd better get back to your dimensional bubble."

"Being there alone is boring, but I'm sure you'll be able to give me a good show like in the past. Goodbye."

With that, the girl stretched out her arms and ran off in a very childish manner. Her body faded away, while the crimson crown on her head flickered a couple of times to go along with its new owner.

"Well... let's begin..."

Kaguya prepared for the massacre. Fortunately, humanity had two heroes on its side. The one who carried the cursed blood of the Uchiha and reincarnation of Indra. And the one who inherited the will and kindness of Ashura. The reincarnations of the grandchildren of this woman... Kaguya Otsutsuki, princess of the moon, goddess of chakra...

With Toru's sacrifice, the history of this world ended. And in the end, a decisive battle began.

Vol. 3 - Naruto: Shippuden - The End